Terrible Things
by RoboFoxtrot
Summary: It's always a hard pill to swallow when the image you have of someone is so brutally shattered. "Adam had been so desperate to believe that the only true evil he'd see would be overseas, far from home."


Preface

**Terrible Things**  
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/22294834.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings Category: Gen Fandom: SEAL Team (TV) Character: Adam Seaver, Clay Spenser, Ash Spenser Additional Tags: Child Abuse, Heavy Angst, SEAL Team (TV) Week 2020, Family Drama Stats: Published: 2020-01-17 Words: 2425 Terrible Things

by RoboFoxtrot

Summary

It's always a hard pill to swallow when the image you have of someone is so brutally shattered. "Adam had been so desperate to believe that the only true evil he'd see would be overseas, far from home."

Notes

Hopefully this fic catches you in all the feels! Much love ❤❤❤

Terrible Things

Adam Seaver had seen many terrible things throughout his career as a navy seal, even more now that he was part of DEVGRU. Things that haunted a man, followed you into your dreams when least expected, leaving you dripping in cold sweat and shaking like a child.

Children sent marching to their deaths wearing explosive vests, lone survivors weeping over loved ones bodies, watching a brothers head snap to the side violently with a spray of pink mist hovering in the air. Every time one of these memories crept up on him when he was home, his beautiful fiance was there wrapping her arms carefully around his shoulders and cradling him close to her, reminding him there was a reason he did what he did. There had been many nights spent just talking with Victoria, wrapping his head around what he'd seen, learning how to move past it. Knowing that he was coming home to his loving fiance was a saving grace.

It wasn't just Victoria that helped though, it was also his team, his brothers, they had each others backs through thick and thin. They taught him how to deal with the trauma, how to rely on each other even when they were stateside. It was a relief to see how much having them in his life helped, they were the best men Adam had ever known.

The team cookouts were some of Adam's favorite moments, seeing the families his brothers had created, seeing what he could have too. Hopefully, when they were ready, him and Victoria would start their own little family, have "The American Dream" themselves. Victoria would make an amazing mother, watching her interact with his teammate's children had only cemented that thought in his mind. To be honest, he wasn't too shabby at it either.

It was shameful to admit but Adam did have a favorite, little Clay Spenser, Victoria loved him too. So he made himself available to watch Clay whenever Ash needed, getting some parenting practice never hurt anyone, plus Clay was a little sweetheart. His father Ashland Spenser, or Ash, had been part of the team for a few years before Adam had joined, he had actually been one of Adam's main supporters during selection. It was one of the many reasons Adam looked up to him so much.

Ash Spenser had the perfect life, a beautiful wife, an amazing son, a large backyard to go with his nice house, it was exactly the kind of life Adam strived for.  
He'd been introduced to Ash's family shortly after joining DEVGRU, Clay had been around three at the time, and was already a sassy little kid. Adam had been wearing a black and white striped shirt at the time that made him look like a convict. It was his way of saying being the new guy was like being a prisoner, he'd had to buy way too many cases of beer already. They'd all been drinking in the backyard when the tiny three year old came running top speed at them with a determined look on his face. He'd stopped right in front of Adam, glaring up at him accusingly pointing.

"You're bad! Needa go jail!"

The entire team had roared with laughter, getting louder when Clay had nodded his head in confirmation at his statement, clearly very proud of himself. Adam had quickly bent down and picked Clay up, squeezing the squirming child firmly to his chest in a hug.

"Ahh! No gets, no gets!"

"First sassy Clay moment, that's a case of beer!"

It was one of Adam's most treasured memories. Quite a few of his precious memories involved Clay actually. Another favorite was on Clay's fourth birthday. Shannon, his mother, had brought him to the base before they had to spin up, so Ash could wish him a happy birthday in person. The guys had all scrambled around in a panic to find something to gift to Clay. The boy ended up receiving a few patches, a med kit, a helmet, some bullets, and of course a stuffed toy dog thanks to Adam having expected this spin up, they had been warned. Clay hadn't seen anything wrong with his new "presents", screaming in delight while promising to take good care of it all. The amazement in his eyes as he cradled it all to his chest had been heartwarming.

When he had been asked if he was going to be a frogman like his father when he grew up, Clay had looked down at his presents seriously before announcing, no he wasn't going to be a seal, he was going to be a dog. Clay had proceeded to run around in a circle with Dita, their service dog, trailing after him, shouting, "I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog."

Thinking back on that memory, Adam realised that might have been the first sign of something starting to go wrong with that family. While Clay may have been happy as can be, his parents clearly hadn't been. Ash kept looking towards Clay with irritation and Shannon had just been leaning against a wall staring off into the distance, clearly not aware of her surroundings, eyes slightly glazed over. Adam had chalked up their behavior to anger at not being able to spend Clay's birthday together, but he was a seal and he should have seen paid attention to the signs. He should have noticed how Clay shied away from his parents, only focusing on the rest of the team, he should've noticed the limp in Clay's step, he should have noticed the despair in his eyes when told it was time to go home.

Adam had later learned that Shannon had wrecked their vehicle on the way home that night. It had been hinted she would have gotten a DUI charge if not for Ash getting it swept under the rug.

The next year of Clay's life had been chock full of signs that had been ignored. Ash never invited anyone over anymore, they always met up at a bar and he never brought his family up in conversation unless it couldn't be helped. Shannon herself, hardly ever showed up to any of their gatherings and when she did, there was always a glazed look in her eyes. Clay had become a tiny little daredevil, always seeking out attention, even if it was negative.

They weren't painfully glaring signs screaming, HEY SOMETHING HORRIBLE IS HAPPENING, but they had been there nonetheless and added up together it painted a picture. Adam had been so desperate to believe that the only true evil he'd see would be overseas, far from home. Except it had been sleeping in the rack next to him, laughing with him over beers, it had been next to him all along and the thought made him sick.

Adam's illusion of Spenser's perfect family came to an end one night when Adam had gone to pick Ash up for a night at the bar, but ended up waiting in front of the other man's house for twenty-five minutes. Finally getting irritated at his ignored phone calls, Adam had gotten out of his car and entered the house quietly, aiming to scare the shit out of Ash for making him wait so long. He'd crept along the hallway leading towards the kitchen where he could hear talking coming from, freezing in horror in the entryway as the scene before him unfolded.

Ash was standing beside the dining room table, talking to Shannon who sat slumped over in a chair, vomit on the ground in front of her.

"Jesus christ Shannon, can't you keep your shit together for one night!" He swatted Clay's hand away when the boy tried to tug on his sleeve. Adam almost couldn't see him he was so small. "Look at you! Covered in vomit, you can barely even sit up!"

Clay finally tugged hard enough on Ash's shirt to get his attention, quietly asking if his mother would be ok. A look of anger overcame Ash's face and like it was happening in slow motion, Ash pushed Clay back a few steps before kicking him in the chest as hard as he could, sending Clay flying into the over door, shattering the glass as his head bounced off it.

"God dammit Clay! What have I told you about interrupting me when I'm talking to your mother!"

Adam had expected immediate screams of pain but Clay's eyes only watered slightly as he looked up at his father then over to his mother, who didn't even seem to notice, let alone care about what had just occurred. Finally his gaze landed on Adam standing in the doorway.

"Hi, Mr. Seaver," he whispered quietly, getting up on wobbly legs and taking off out of the room as his father turned around in horror.

"Adam! What are you doing here?"

In a fury of rage, Adam launched himself at Ash, knocking them both to the floor. He barely remember the feeling of his fist smashing repeatedly into the other man's face or Shannon's screams for him to stop. Oh yeah, sure, care now. Shards of the broken oven door cut into his knees and hands as he got off Ash, pushing Shannon away. Looking down the hallway Adam headed towards Clay's room, intent on getting the child as far away from these monsters as possible.

Adam walked into the room searching for Clay, he could hear him but not see him. Slowly crouching down beside the bed, he looked underneath spotting the frightened child. Gently pulling Clay out, wincing at the blood running down his back from the cut on the back of his head and the slight wheeze every time he breathed. The dazed look was still on his face alerting Adam to the probability of a concussion. He cradled the small child to his chest, quickly making his way out of the house.

Shannon was on the ground next to Ash, who was still unconscious, cradling his head in her lap. Adam walked past her, ignoring the curses she threw at him. It burned him up that she didn't seem to show any worry towards her child, only for her shit bag of a husband.

"I'm taking to the hospital, then calling the cops. I suggest you get yourself together before they get here."

The naval hospital happened to be the closest so Adam took Clay there. It took some convincing to be allowed to follow Clay when he was taken to the back, but after he explained the situation it was quickly allowed. Clay had sat quietly, not uttering a sound, even though he must have been scared out of his mind and in immense pain. It terrified Adam to think this wasn't the first time that this had occurred, that Clay had dealt with it often enough to learn how to hide his feelings. He gently let go of Clay's hand when they wheeled him away for an x-ray, and walked out into the waiting area.

He'd only been sitting in a chair for a few minutes, when his team leader and a few other official looking men, made their way towards Adam. Standing quickly he immediately started to explain what had occurred before he was interrupted and dragged to an unoccupied room. There he was allowed to explain everything. Adam wasn't sure what he had expected but it wasn't to be ordered to return home and not mention what happened to anyone. He had tried to argue that he needed to stay, for Clay, but it didn't do any good, he just ended up with extra drills for the next week. Assholes.

The next few days had been stressful, trying to figure out what was going to happen to Clay, no one had wanted to tell him anything. All he wanted to know was that Ash was going to pay for he did and that Clay was safe. Victoria had spent hours trying to calm him down when he finally learned how everything was being dealt with.

Ashland Spenser was an elite tier one soldier, worth millions in training, the military didn't want to lose an asset like that. So when it was discovered that Shannon had parents who ran a missionary in Liberia, parents who had immediately flown to America for the chance to bring their grandson back home with them, well who was the military to look a gift horse in the mouth. What better way to sweep it all under the rug then to send Clay off to a different country, a different continent for that matter. Unfortunately Clay had been returned to his mother's custody until her parents arrived to take Clay. At least Ash had been confined to the barracks until Clay left.

"Killed two birds with one stone," Adam thought to himself.

Adam figured out the time and date of when Clay would be leaving with his grandparents, and had made sure to drive over there to say goodbye. He hadn't made it out his truck though, unable to bring himself to get in the middle of the shit show before him. Shannon was there, handing Clay over to her father, still looking completely drugged out. Clay was hysterically screaming and pleading for his mama as he was carried away to the car on the curb by strangers. Shannon wouldn't even look at him though, just turned and walked back into the house, ignoring the looks she got from her parents, as they got into the car and drove away.

And just like that Ash Spenser got away with everything, Shannon Spenser got away with everything, and it pissed Adam off. Starting his truck and driving straight to base, Adam handed in a transfer request for another team. He refused to work with Ash or his team leader, who had helped cover this up. He vowed that when he became a team leader, this shit wouldn't happen again. Maybe he'd go on to train green team after his pipe hitting days were over. Drill it into them how not to be a shitbag child abuser or a shitbag child abuser's defender.

Sometimes Adam saw terrible things but he wasn't going to let it drag him down, he was going to learn from it, prevent it, after all that's why he'd joined DEVGRU in the first place. Seeing Clay near twenty years later, seeing how great a person he'd become, just confirmed Adam's belief that something good can come from the most terrible things.

Afterword

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